Gas turbine engines are well known internal combustion engines typically used to provide thrust to an aircraft or to provide power for land-based operations. Generally speaking, a gas turbine engine includes a fan, a compressor, a combustor and a turbine arranged in a serial fashion. The fan draws in ambient air as it rotates and moves it to the compressor where the air is compressed or pressurized. The compressed air is then communicated to the combustor where it is mixed with fuel and ignited. The products of the combustion are hot gases which are then directed into the turbine. This causes the airfoils in the turbine to rotate, and as turbine is mounted on the same shaft, or shafts, as the compressor and fan, this causes the compressor and fan to rotate as well. Accordingly, once started, it can be seen that the operation of the engine is self-sustaining in that the combustion of more fuel with air causes more rotation of the turbine and in turn the compressor and the fan. Moreover, the rotation of the fan, which typically has a diameter many times that of the compressor and the turbine, causes the engine to generate thrust.
A spinner is a device that is situated at the forward end of the fan section of a gas turbine engine. Its primary purpose is to form the flowpath for air that is forward of the fan, thereby creating a smoother more continuous flow of air into the blades, the compressor, turbines and bypass flowpath.
It has been customary to make spinners using metals such as aluminum or titanium, or from a two-dimensional para-aramid (Kevlar®) and fiberglass laminate with an integral Y-flange, to attach the spinner to the fan hub forward of the blades. Yet, such design is not without its shortcomings, as the cost of the materials utilized in such a design are expensive, and the weight of the materials utilized to manufacture a spinner with these materials that meet the FAR requirements leads to increased fuel consumption, and therefore increased operational cost. Thus, while certain spinners are known, improvements in the area of material cost and weight is desired.